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Issa to headline Pennsylvania GOP gathering

A Pennsylvania GOP confab would be a curious place for most out-of-state Congressmen. But not California Rep. Darrell Issa.

Issa, whose rhetoric has been a clarion call of sorts for fellow Congressional Republicans over allegations the White House offered federal posts to two Democratic primary challengers, will address Friday the Pennsylvania Republican Party at the group’s summer meeting. Other speakers include Rick Santorum, Rob Gleason, Joyce Haas, Christine Toretti, Tom Corbett and Jim Cawley — all former elected officials, party chiefs and candidates from the Keystone State.

Then an underdog, Sestak claimed in a February radio interview that an Administration figure approached him with the prospect of a “high ranking” federal post if he were to forgo his primary bid against incumbent Senator Arlen Specter. Only days after Issa threatened the White House with a formal ethics probe was it revealed last month the White House had dispatched former President Bill Clinton to convince Sestak to drop his campaign.

A poll released last week showed Sestak trailing his republican opponent Pat Toomey by seven points. Many in the state attribute Sestak’s post-primary fizzle to the Issa offensive.

But Pennsylvania is not the only state in which Issa is becoming a household name.

In Colorado, Andrew Romanoff acknowledged last week that a senior aide to President Barack Obama had personally approached him with the possibility of three federal posts as an alternative to his primary challenge to incumbent Senator Michael Bennet.

In a statement provided to CNN, Issa said: “After pleading to change the business-as-usual culture of Washington during his campaign, the Sestak-Romanoff controversies have lifted a veil on this Presidency that has revealed a Chicago-style politicking that is the antithesis of what candidate Obama campaigned on.”

The network also reports there is no word yet if Issa will address a similar gathering of Colorado Republicans.